Raymond Monica is no stranger to Arkansas Tech University — even though the campus and Russellville community have gone through some changes since he attended a Wonder Boys football camp in 1983.

And he knows ATU can win big games. He was on the University of North Alabama coaching staff when the Wonder Boys stunned the NCAA Division II three-time defending national champion Lions in Florence, the sight of Saturday’s DII national title game.

Monica, who went 45-34 when he coached Kutztown University in Pennsylvania from 2006-12, will be introduced as the 16th head football coach of the Wonder Boys during a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday in room 300 of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.

The new head coach said after Friday night’s Harlon Hill awards banquet in Alabama he took the ATU coaching job because it was “a perfect fit.”

“I’ve always kind of looked at that program, being in the Gulf South [Conference] when North Alabama played them a few years,” Monica said. “The Arkansas Tech campus has everything to offer. You feel like you have a chance to win each and every week, and the facilities are unbelievable.”

Monica, who was an assistant at Temple after his stint at North Alabama ended in 1997, admitted there’s a lot of work to do, but he and Tech’s assistants have already been hitting it pretty hard.

“I have no doubt we’ll catch up,” Monica said when asked about recruiting. “I’ll be there [today], and the coaches have been busy. We’re going to recruit the state of Arkansas and surrounding states, and build a program with high school players. That’s what we plan on doing.”

At Kutztown, Monica and the Golden Bears reached the DII national playoffs for the first time in program history, won the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference championship, won 11 games and won their first playoff game in 2011. Kutztown enjoyed a No. 6 ranking in the DII football rankings that season and went 7-4 in 2012.

The unanimous choice of ATU’s football coach search committee, Monica said he’s not worried about the brutal Arkansas preseason weather. The native of Garyville, La., remembers a thing or two about August temperatures in the South.

“I love it,” he said. “We’ll be just fine. I’m just looking forward to getting there and getting to work.”